The Unforeseen Wrath
by J.A.A.V
Summary: Together with her friend Rose, Emma hopes to have the best time ever as they both will now attend Hogwarts. However, things just don't turn out that good as a friend of their parents finds out a few things no one should have found out.
1. Default Chapter

-CHAPTER ONE-  
  
Getting All Set  
  
It was a hot summer Tuesday in London, with a vivid blue sky and a burning sun. Diagon Alley was swarming with people, most of them there to buy the necessary things for the start of the new school year. Florean Fortescue's Ice-Cream Parlour was crammed with beaming youngsters who were accompanied by their parents. Some of them had big bags and piles next to them, together with puffing and exhausted looking mums and dads.  
'Mommy,' said a young wizard with sandy coloured hair and bright blue eyes, sitting behind an ice-cream which was huge in comparison to his height. 'Emma is eating all the blueberry!' He pointed at a hole in the middle of the towering ice-cream, supported by a large cup, which only became bigger as a girl kept spooning out the blueberry flavoured ice cream soda with a little golden shining teaspoon.  
'Mommy, look at it!' he said a tad louder as his mother didn't seem to notice, but kept staring into the crowd that was walking by the shop, letting her head rest on her left fist while her other hand played with the silver bordered rim of the sleeve of the dark blue robe she was wearing.  
'Oh, you big baby,' the dark haired girl hissed, hitting his head with her spoon. The boy looked at his older sister who already had resumed to spoon out more of the blueberry savour and as it trembled, he bit his lip.  
'Mommy! Emma hit me w-'  
'Elijah!' the mother said loudly as she abruptly turned her rich colourful eyes on him. Her almost blond hair fell in her face and she gracefully ran her fingers through it in a vain attempt to get it away from blocking her view on the appalled boy. 'How many times have I told you to stop droning?  
Emma grinned while bringing a spoon full of blueberry ice cream soda to her mouth.  
'But mommy, she-' the ice cream was already dangerously affected and ominously bent over to Elijah only to plaster him milliseconds later.  
'Watch it!' Emma yelled as she jumped away.  
SPLASH!  
The little boy helplessly looked up to his mother, covered by their Forest Fruit ice-cup, with a deep crimson cherry sticking out on top of his head.  
'Oh dear.' the mother sighed while shaking her head. She swiftly pulled out her wand and muttered something as she gave it a flick. The ice cream vanished immediately, leaving no trace of what so ever on Elijah's outfit, hair or face.  
He smoothened his clothes as he sat straight up and recovered from what had just happened.  
'Now look what you've done,' he said to his sister angrily. 'No ice cream anymore for both of us!' He muttered as he folded his arms and sank back into his chair, looking to the ground. Emma took no offence and watched her mother searching the crowd.  
'Mum? When's Rose coming?' She asked with her spoon still in her mouth and chewing on it. She was dangling her legs under the table in anticipation.  
'I don't know, Emma,' she answered. 'They should've been here already.' Emma saw the concerned look on her face and turned to watch the crowd herself. Elijah was still muttering under his breath.  
Minutes passed by as the three of them saw hundreds of people walking past Florean Fortescue's Ice-Cream Parlour. A lot of the young people gazed at the shop licking their lips while wiping off the sweat on their forehead with their sleeves.  
Suddenly Emma saw the red headed girl she was waiting for.  
'Rose!' she exclaimed and a big smile spread across her face.  
Rose, very visible by her flaming red hair, came out of the crowd joined by her mother Belladona, who was pushing both her and another girl Emma knew, forward.  
'Artemis!' Emma yelled out.  
The two girls rushed over to Emma the second they heard and saw her. They immediately sat down at the table and started to talk while Elijah kept muttering.  
'Nemesis,' Belladona said almost breathlessly to Emma's mother. 'How are you?'  
'Hi Bella,' Nemesis replied. 'I was a bit concerned there. Thought you'd never show up or that maybe something might've happened.' She couldn't hide the worried nature in her voice.  
Belladona grinned at her. 'Always worried, that's how we know our Nem.' She quickly took a chair from another table that had just been emptied by one of the waitresses, as another family already rushed to it. 'You don't mind, do you?' she asked the parents, who only seemed to have two small children.  
'No, of course not,' they said panting but cheerful. 'We don't need that fifth chair.'  
Belladona sat down next to Nemesis, looking at the children. 'We had to pick up Artemis first. Skye had some urgent business down at the Ministry and she needed someone to look after her.'  
'Oh, I see,' Nemesis replied before she took a last large swig from her soda. She watched the cute girl Artemis was and saw a little version of her mother, only with darker hair and brighter blue eyes.  
'Something wrong with little Eli?' Belladona asked observing the boy who was now pouting and looking angry at the three raving girls next to him, who started to whisper after realising the glares from Elijah.  
'The usual,' Nemesis said loud enough so he could clearly hear it. He looked up at his mother and furiously turned to look the other way.  
Nemesis grinned and turned to Belladona, who barely could suppress a titter.  
'I really wonder when he's going to act his age. Anyway, want a drink, Bella?'  
'No, thank you. We'd better get going. It's very crowded and I haven't bought Rose anything yet.'  
'Same here.' Nemesis now swivelled to the children. 'Well, are you all ready to go shopping then?' The girls immediately stopped whispering and jumped up.  
'Yes we are, Mrs Benton,' Artemis said politely.  
'Honestly Artemis,' Nemesis said smiling at the girl. 'Your mother has raised you too well. Please call us by our first names, dear.' She pointed to Belladona and herself.  
'Er. Yes, Mrs Nemesis,' the dark haired girl tried again. Rose playfully poked her in the ribs and Emma chuckled while Belladona and Nemesis both giggled and stood up shaking their heads. 'What?' she asked looking unbeknownst at her two friends.  
'Elijah, aren't you coming?' Nemesis asked her son who stubbornly kept looking the other way with folded arms and a pouting face. 'Elijah?'  
Nemesis went over to the boy and kneeled down. She put a hand on one of his knees and the other one on his arms. 'What's the matter, honey?  
'They are making fun of me!' he said acrimoniously.  
'Who are?'  
He slowly and hesitantly turned his face to his mother, bent over and whispered in her ear. 'Those girls!' He sank back into his chair and threw his hands in the air.  
'Let me tell you a little secret.' Elijah's eyes widened as Nemesis motioned her boy to move closer. 'Girls can be quite silly sometimes. And I know because I used to be one myself. You shouldn't place too much importance on their words.' She turned to look right into his big blue eyes again and put a finger to her lips. 'Keep it to yourself.' She winked as his eyes showed little glittering lights. Elijah jumped up and smiled broadly while Nemesis stood up again.  
'Ready to go, sailor?'  
'I sure am, mommy!' He took her hand and they followed Belladona and the three girls, who were already waiting for them on the street.  
*  
'So Bella, how are Danny and Violet?' Nemesis asked her when a giggling Emma and Rose stood on stools and were being fitted up for their school robes. Elijah had fully recovered from his fit and was chasing Artemis around Madam Malkin's. Belladona was browsing through some dress robes.  
'They are doing very well. Bill has some time off from work. I told you that Saturday, didn't I?' Nemesis nodded as she looked searchingly at a deep blue robe and let her finger play with the velvet. Yet Belladona strangely didn't seemed to be that excited about it like she had been on Saturday.  
'They are visiting London Zoo today.'  
'Muggle London Zoo?'  
'Well, you know, both the Muggle and Wizarding department.'  
'I can imagine Violet sitting on her daddy's shoulders all day long.'  
They both laughed.  
'OUCH!' A squat older Wizard with a colossal belly, holding what looked like two different coloured cloaks, grasped at his stomach as a young boy stumbled to his feet again after apparently falling on the ground.  
Nemesis and Belladona rushed over to the scene.  
'Elijah, what happened?' Nemesis asked the boy while Belladona made sure the Wizard was fine. Artemis looked at the ground and awkwardly shoved one foot back and forth over the other.  
'Er. I accidentally ran into this man.' His mother cast him a disapproving look. 'Are you okay, sir?' she asked the man.  
'Hmpf, I'm fine,' he turned around with a grimace and left the scene. 'Youngsters,' they heard him say censoriously to the clerk just before he left the store with the two cloaks he was carrying.  
A merry suddenly Emma jumped in front of her mother. 'We're ready!' The girls both carried a large pack with three sets of robes inside, a pointed hat and a cloak.  
After paying Madam Malkin they were walking down the Alley again, all carrying something, and looking over the list of required equipment for Hogwarts. Artemis and Elijah were a few feet ahead and enthusiastically pointed at the different shops.  
'Well, we got the books already. The garments, the protective gloves, the cauldrons, telescopes, scales, potion ingredients and phials. We still need the wands,' Belladona stated.  
'And an animal,' Nemesis winked at her daughter as Belladona frowned at this and Rose noticed.  
'You promised me too, Mum!'  
'Alright, alright!' She sighed. 'What did you have in mind, then?'  
'I'd like to get an owl for myself,' she said to her mother. 'Well, not entirely for myself,' she smiled at Emma.  
'And I'd like to have a kneazle!' Emma said firmly.  
'Right! But first. Wands, girls,' Nemesis pushed them inside Ollivander's as they reached the shop. A high doorbell rang and seconds later an old man with shining eyes appeared between the shelves.  
'Hello, Mr Ollivander,' Nemesis said cheerful.  
'Mrs Benton and Mrs Weasley. Good afternoon,' he kindly nodded. 'I trust it's the daughters' turn to receive their wand now, is it? Emma and Rose glowed.  
Mr Ollivander motioned to a tape measure to move closer and do his job. Five minutes later he grabbed it and put it in the counter's drawer.  
'Right. We'll start off with you, Miss Nightshade Weasley.' He turned around to retrieve a long dusty box and opened it at as he faced Rose again. 'This is a quite rare wand, but I believe it might suit you well. Made of rosewood and dragon heartstring. Very whippy.' Rose took the wand he held out for her and looked at it intriguingly. 'Go on, give it a wave, dear,' he said.  
She warily waved her wand at an empty jug on the counter and sparks flew around only to reveal a marvellous bouquet of deep red roses now inside the jug.  
'Brilliant,' Mr Ollivander said joyful as the three other children looked at the flowers in complete awe. He seemed to be very pleased with himself. Rose beamed at her mother who winked back at her.  
'Now, Miss Benton?'  
Emma took a few steps forward.  
'Here I have a willow wand, dear. Nine inches long, quite swishy,' he said as he gave Emma a nice light tinted wand.  
Following what Rose did just a minute ago, Emma silently swished her wand and pointed it at a nearby standing mirror.  
CRASH!  
The sound of shattering glass and falling pieces abruptly broke the stillness.  
'Apparently. not,' Mr Ollivander said firmly, frowning his eyebrows. Rose gazed at the former mirror and shrugged her shoulders when she turned her eyes on Emma.  
'Try this one,' he continued, now handing her a dark wand. 'Mahogany and Abraxan mane. I'm quite unsure about what it could do or imply though. Never sold this combination before.' Nemesis nonetheless already beamed when she heard the wand's core.  
Once again Emma flicked her wand although she was a little more vigilant now. But nothing broke or shattered. Instead, a striking and sparkling blue watery cloud appeared from the tip. Slowly what seemed like a transparent crystal ball became visible in the centre of the cloud. Everyone, including Mr Ollivander, looked at it with open mouths as the cloud with the ball slowly moved towards the door, only to deform and disappear through the letter-box. Nobody moved until the last bit of it went up in the open air, out of sight, leaving misty traces of blue in the wand store, concentrated around the door.  
'What was that?' Artemis suddenly blurted out shaking her head as if she woke up from a strange dream. Elijah looked rather terrified and the two mothers exchanged nearly ignorant looks.  
'I have never seen something like this before in the many, many years I've worked here,' Mr Ollivander looked very pensive, like he, indeed, as he claimed, was remembering every single wand he had sold.  
'This must've had a meaning,' Belladona secretly whispered in Nemesis' ear. 'You don't think-' They both looked terrified for a split second, but Nemesis nervously waved it away.  
'No, I don't think so. It can't be!'  
'No, you're right, Nem!' Belladona laughed. 'Imagine.'  
Nemesis looked at an reassuring Belladona and relaxed.  
'Yeah. Imagine.' She stared in empty space.  
'Mum? Mum, the money,' Emma pulled her mother's robes.  
'Oh, right,' Nemesis answered as she and Belladona hastily grabbed for their purse and counted seven Galleons each.  
*  
They had left Ollivander's with an odd looking Mr Ollivander. Emma wasn't too sure why he gave her this bizarre face expression when they all had left the store and she had glanced behind her one more time. But despite the weird feeling this all gave her, she was glad with her wand and her mother seemed to be too. Nemesis had hugged her when they were outside, saying, 'Abraxan mane! Just like your mother, aren't you?'  
They went to Eeylops Owl Emporium next, where Rose chose a young handsome tawny owl, with intriguing jewel-bright eyes. She didn't know what to call him yet, but kept saying names now and then, asking Emma if she liked them. They were walking a few steps behind the others. Rose held up the cage with one hand, pushing a finger of the other between two bars. 'Now seriously Emma, how are we going to call this messenger?'  
'How about. Mercurio?' Emma said after giving it a hard but quick thought. She was curling up her slight crimped shoulder length hair with her fingers.  
'Yeah,' Rose exclaimed. 'I like that! Mercurio it is!'  
They caught up with the rest who already stepped inside the Magical Menagerie. Minutes later they all left the shop again, with a beaming Emma in front, petting a black and white catlike animal. She turned to Rose when they were standing in the middle of the street and asked her to give the kneazle a name.  
'Hm?' Rose brought out.  
'It's only fair after I named Mercurio,' she said.  
Rose smiled and closed her eyes.  
'I've always liked the name Tiger for a cat,' she said as she opened her big, soft blue eyes again.  
'Then I shall call him. Tiger,' Emma said solemnly, pretending to be a very notable hostess and bowing a little.  
'Silly!' Rose nudged her as they both giggled.  
Artemis and Elijah came up to the animal and she petted his head. 'Well, hello then, Tiger,' she said smiling after overhearing his name. She looked a little closer. 'Now look at the both of you!' she almost shouted to Emma in her enthusiasm. 'I could swear you've got the same eyes. Golden irises!'  
Rose giggled and agreed with Artemis while Elijah just smirked, which made his sister convinced of his jealousy. He quickly turned around and went over to his mother, who was in a animated conversation with Rose's mother.  
'You've got to be kidding me!'  
'No honestly. She kind of liked him,' Belladona chuckled.  
'And what does Artemis think of all this?'  
'Well, she hasn't told her yet. She wants to be sure first she likes him enough. I mean, think about Artemis. Like you said, how would a daughter feel about her mum getting involved with a man who's not her father, right?'  
'Absolutely!' Yet Nemesis couldn't conceal her excitement.  
'Mum! I'm thirsty,' Elijah interrupted.  
'How about getting something to drink in the Leaky Cauldron?' Belladona asked him. 'It's my treat!'  
Elijah nodded fervently and rushed over to the girls to tell them.  
'We should all get together again at Halloween. The Claw Girls I mean,' said Nemesis distractedly.  
'Might be nice! We really should!' Belladona wholeheartedly agreed. She put an arm around Nemesis and they gleefully walked towards their children.  
*  
The six of them had searched a cosy place and table to sit at in the Leaky Cauldron. Nemesis had brought two butterbeers and four milkshakes -two vanilla ones, a banana and a chocolate- without asking everyone first what they'd like to have. They all seemed satisfied with what she put in front of them.  
'Mrs. er, Nemesis,' Artemis looked puzzled. 'How come you knew I'd like to have a vanilla milkshake?'  
'I don't know, dear, I just thought.'  
'Mum always knows what you want to drink or eat,' Emma said like there wasn't anything more logical in the whole wide world. 'Don't you, mum?'  
Belladona looked at her and Nemesis both curiously and thoughtfully.  
'Come to think of it, Nem,' she said with a low voice, 'You do!'  
Nemesis seemed to be taken aback a little.  
'Mothers know what their children like the best, don't they?'  
'Yeah, but Artemis isn't your daughter, let alone be family.'  
Artemis looked from Belladona to Nemesis and back. Elijah was dreamily and noisily slurping his milkshake with a straw and Emma and Rose were trying each other's flavour.  
'I don't like banana too much,' Rose said with a frown after she gave Emma's glass back.  
'And I like chocolate, but not as a milkshake flavour.'  
Nemesis looked at the dark wooden table and shrugged her shoulders.  
'Well, I don't know. I just felt like she could use a vanilla drink.'  
Belladona narrowed her eyes but apparently decided to skip the subject by moving to another one.  
'Well Artemis,' she smiled at the girl. 'Are you looking forward to your trip?'  
'Yes I am,' she said while her face visibly lit up. 'I can't wait to see Egypt and I'm anxious to visit some ruins of ancient Greece.'  
'If you are in Egypt and run into Bill, ask him to show you around a little. I'm sure he'd love to do that.'  
Artemis nodded and took a swig.  
'Is Bill going back soon then?' Nemesis wondered.  
'Yes, well, Gringotts asked him to help them out again. They just excavated a new burial place and they can't seem to break the curses of a particular tomb. Must be a really important one.'  
Nemesis suddenly realised why Belladona had been less excited about Bill's time off a few hours ago at Madam Malkin's.  
'He won't be away for long now, will he?' she asked her friend with sincere compassion.  
'I hope not!'  
When Artemis looked like she was feeling a tad awkward, Emma and Rose noticed the talk their mothers were having.  
'Dad's not going to be able to wave me out to Hogwarts,' Rose said pouting to the two girls. 'He has to go to Egypt.'  
'Aw,' Artemis brought out now feeling even more awkward as she moved her chair closer.  
Emma put her hand on her best friend's shoulder. 'We can always owl him now,' she tried to cheer her up.  
'Yeah, I suppose so.' Rose gave her a faint smile.  
'I know how it is, not having your father around on a big day like that. In fact, I know how it is every day.' Artemis said sadly.  
It was now Rose and Emma's turn to feel awkward. Emma didn't really know what to say, but she grabbed Artemis' hand and gave it a soft squeeze.  
'You'll always have us, you know,' she said pointing at Rose and herself.  
'Yeah, definitely!' Rose prompted.  
Artemis smiled. 'I know, you guys.'  
Emma had known Artemis and Rose as far back as she could remember. All their parents were very close friends with each other and she could recall many holidays, parties and time together. Rose's parents were both working for the Nightshade family company. The Nightshades were a very rich and honoured family, having several mines mostly situated in Europe. Belladona was doing all the financial and business side and worked at home, which gave her the opportunity of taking care of her three children, while Bill was supervising the fieldwork at the mines and did an excellent job helping to raise their offspring. Artemis on the other hand, hadn't known her father. All she knew was that he had been a French Auror and that he had been killed when her mother, Skye Waterstone, was pregnant with her. Artemis was only a year younger than her and had travelled a lot already, since Skye worked at the Ministry as head of the International Relations Department and had to go abroad on numerous occasions.  
She herself sometimes knew how it was to miss a father, however she didn't think it was fair to compare her situation to that of Artemis. Emma's father had been quite busy until a few years ago. Joshua Benton had been the bass player of the former famous and cheered band named the Twisted Fates. Over more than ten years they had travelled around the world to play for massive audiences, but they decided to cut it back when the three of them were all complaining rather a lot about the lack of time to spend with their family. So when Trenton O'Brien, the youngest of them, had eventually been getting married, they played for the very last time on his wedding day, already building off their performances the last two years before that. Emma was only seven years old then, Elijah six and their baby brother Samuel had been five months and crying along with their performance.  
Yet it didn't mean that her father had stopped writing lyrics and songs, as he had decided to carry on composing after he had written a ballad for little Violet Weasley the day she was born.  
Recently though, Josh had been writing a novel and he had a daily column in the Daily Prophet, occasionally composing a new piece of music and selling it to successful bands and singers. Even today, he still had a lot of fans who kept writing letters and sending stuffed animals, the latter, if they were cute, always finding their way to both Emma or Rose's rooms, the former always to the bin.  
Her mother had always had a part-time job, wanting to raise her and her brothers herself and not let someone else do it. When the Twisted Fates were touring she had organised a lot of the concerts and managed the time of the members and their roadies, taking over the job from her husband who had that responsibility before she came in, while taking Emma and her brother with her. Now, she was the chief librarian in the recently founded Pince's Wizarding Library for Magical and Non-Magical Reading, hidden next to St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries in London.  
Elijah, her brother, and Artemis were the same age and seemed to have a certain bond because of that. If Artemis wasn't with Rose or Emma, she was always to be found with him. He also liked Daniel a lot, Bill and Belladona's only son who was three years younger. But that didn't seem to stop them from pulling pranks whenever they had the opportunity and acting like twins in the way they were sticking up for each other. Bill always said they reminded him so much of his own twin brothers, George and Fred Weasley, who had a very successful joke shop in Diagon Alley called Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes. Unfortunately for Elijah, they were closed at this time of year.  
'We really should get going,' Nemesis said while looking at her pocket watch and letting it slide into a side pocket of her cloak again. 'Dad will probably be wondering where we are by now.'  
Belladona called the waiter and paid for their drinks while everyone stood up and said their goodbyes to each other.  
'I'll be seeing you on Platform 9 and ¾,' Emma almost yelled at Rose when they split up in a crowded Muggle London outside the Leaky Cauldron. Rose tried to give her a thumbs up with all the bags she was carrying and showed her the broad smile only she could give her.  
'Bye Artemis! Have a good trip and bring me something nice,' she now shouted as the pedestrians around them parted them from view. She instinctively kept Tiger closer to her chest with her free hand.  
'Stay close,' her mother said as the three of them turned around and started walking in the direction of a broad store-lined street, frequently bumping into Muggles who were marching, almost in a military quick-march way, down the streets while keeping their eyes fixed to the ground. Next to an electrical gadgets store called Purge & Dowse Ltd., which was the entrance to St Mungo's, they faced a very old dirty green building, having two large windows on each side of the little entrance door. They had become non-transparent by the dirt, but you could still read the words that were painted on them in a once unmistakably pearly white tint: 'Vanderbilt's Bookstore'.  
Nemesis pulled the door and let her children in. It was a very dark and musty smelling room. High shelves were filled to the top with old, dusty and affected books.  
'What can I do for you, please?' An old blind man with a cane slowly moved forward from the back of the store.  
'Hello Mr Vanderbilt,' Elijah and Emma said in chorus.  
'Hello Julius,' Nemesis said to the man.  
Tiger gave a faint miaow.  
'Who do we have here? The Benton children, and what appears to be a kneazle,' the man prompted happily. 'Long time no see.' Emma giggled at this as he stuck out his arm to search for a head while having a firm grip on his cane with the other. His greyish hair seemed unmanageable as it stuck out on all sides of his dark green beret. He found Elijah's head and ruffled through his light coloured hair.  
They passed Julius and went over to a bright multi-coloured parrot sitting on a standard next to a large standing mirror in a brass frame.  
'Passes please,' the parrot cackled in an almost mechanical voice.  
Nemesis pulled three shining gold credit card-sized passes out of her dark brown cloak and put them in the parrot's beak. The mirror glass began to swirl.  
'Welcome to Pince's Wizarding Library for Magical and Non-Magical Reading,' the parrot went on. 'May you find here what you are searching for.'  
'Bye Mr Vanderbilt!' Emma called after she pushed her brother ahead of her into the mirror.  
'See you soon, Julius,' her mother said right behind her.  
'Always my pleasure,' he said waving to the place they were standing.  
Emma stepped into the mirror and found herself next in the stunning grand place the main room of the Library was. There were several differently shaped shelves dividing the Library in many sections. In the centre of the place was a helpdesk, where her mother used to worked when she wasn't helping anyone to find something in particular. On the opposing side of the mirror entrance were three splendid fireplaces. They worked their way to those, held up two times by Elijah who, because of his tousled hair that fell in front of his eyes, knocked a few books off their shelve by swinging the bags he carried.  
'Talk about being clumsy,' Emma muttered to her mother, who gave her a disapproving look, yet couldn't help but smile.  
'Shhh. He's quite huffy today,' Nemesis whispered as Elijah joined them at the fireplaces, dropping the bags and pushing his hair out of his face. He sighed and gave them an annoyed look. Nemesis took some Floo powder out of the golden hydria that was placed on top of the closest fireplace and threw it into the flames. Elijah picked up the bags again and resolutely marched into the now green flames, yelling 'The Benton Mansion'. Nemesis and Emma giggled as the boy disappeared and Emma made her way into the flames.  
'The Benton Mansion!' She felt the familiar warmth as she was spinning fast past numerous fireplaces, clutching Tiger until she reached the home she always had known and was always glad to come back to after a long day out. 


	2. Chapter Two Off to Hogwarts

-CHAPTER TWO-  
  
Off to Hogwarts  
  
The next week, early in the morning on September the first, the Bentons headed for Nightshade Manor. Belladona had decided to stay with her parents for a while, after Bill left for Egypt. Josh was holding Samuel by his hand, while directing a charmed floating trunk and Nemesis walked behind Elijah and Emma who were discussing if Elijah could carry Tiger or if he would eventually drop the kneazle accidentally, Emma really carrying him and Elijah trying to pet it all the way. About fifteen minutes walking North from the Benton Mansion, in a pastoral landscape, they arrived at a deserted crossroads with very narrow roads, which almost seemed like paths. Josh held still and turned to face the East, followed by a very excited Emma and what seemed to be quite a bored brother. They waited for a while, until a figure appeared from thin air right in front of them.  
'Ah, there she is,' Josh whispered. Emma took his hand and squeezed it merrily.  
A fairly sallow skinned female ghost was now looking at Josh.  
'Hello Mortishia,' he said politely. 'Always nice to see you.'  
'Josh Benton,' she seemed to look pensive, as if the sudden thoughts she was having could be as immaterial and fragile as her transparent body. 'Lady Belladona is expecting you and your family.' She floated to the right, making a gracious bow and allowing them to step forward. They walked through something like an invisible gateway and the next thing they saw was a gigantic stunning house surrounded by a lot of fertile green.  
A laughing boy was running around in front of the house with a small yellow kite a few feet behind him up in the air. At the corner of the house a man suddenly appeared, laughing as loudly and heartily as the boy, running in a very funny manner and pulling a huge fluorescent pink kite. He noticed the guests, gently let the kite fall on the ground and rushed over to them.  
'Danny!' Elijah was already running to the boy.  
'Good morning, Joshua,' he said while he took off some big, fluffy and pink gloves. Emma was quite used to the way this man dressed himself, but this khaki Muggle army outfit with those gloves did force her to suppress a few giggles. Still, her mother heard her and looked at her a little apprehensively.  
'Hello Orlando,' Josh said shaking his hand.  
'Nemesis! Don't you look lovely, dear?' he gave her a jovial kiss on the cheek and then pinched Emma's as he looked down on her.  
'Here's Emma Jane! How are you? Rose is inside, she's waiting for you.' He waved to the house.  
'Thank you, Mr Nightshade,' she said and when her father nodded at her, she ran up to the house, leaving Tiger with her mother, who put him inside a Muggle cat cage, and passing Elijah and Daniel who where both trying to get the big pink kite up into the air, pulling the cords very hard with closed eyes and additional growling sounds.  
'Come on, Eli! We have to pull harder! Mh.'  
'Hmpf!'  
She climbed a flight of steps to the front door and got inside.  
'There you are!' She heard Rose's voice from above. 'Come on! I want to show you something!' Rose quickly came down the staircase and grabbed her arm.  
'Well. Hi to you too,' Emma said a bit confused by the sudden rush. Rose didn't answer but laughed and pulled her inside a bright room, where her trunk was placed on the floor next to Mercurio's cage. She sat down and opened her trunk.  
'Look what my dad gave me before he left!' She pulled out a beautiful golden pendant which seemed very familiar to Emma.  
'Isn't that his lucky charm?' Emma said disbelieving.  
'Yeah, it's his 'Eye of Horus'.' Rose let it fall trough her fingers and admired it. 'He said I'd need it more then he does now that I'm going away from home. And he promised it would give me the strength when I need it!'  
'Then why don't you wear it?' Emma asked her rolling her eyes and taking the medallion from her, holding it up to the light to take a closer look. 'It's absolutely stunning. Too much of a waste not wearing it. Here, let me help you.' Rose smiled and Emma crawled behind her back to place the necklace and the pendant where it belonged.  
'So. How are you two doing?' a pleasant and sweet voice suddenly came out of the blue.  
The girls jumped up and turned around.  
'Aunt Acacia!' Rose exclaimed, running to the pretty woman, dressed in a light blue classy robe, and hugging her. Acacia grinned.  
'Hi, big niece of mine.' She took her by her shoulder and came to Emma. 'Hello Emma,' she hugged her too.  
'Hi Acacia,' Emma smiled broadly. But when she next looked at Rose's aunt, she saw a look of concern on her face. Or was it astonishment? She had seen it before, but she couldn't make out what it really was. Last month, when Acacia took them both to Elysian Park, a huge amusement park made for magical people, Acacia had taken her hand to lead her and Rose to the Pegasus Coaster. Suddenly, she had let Emma's hand go, as if it was on fire and hurting her. The expression she wore then, was the same as she had seen just now.  
Acacia didn't seem to want to show her though.  
'I bet you two will be Slytherins,' she joked.  
'No way, aunt!' Rose was almost offended. 'Now, why would you say that?'  
'Well, because I know you two! Up to no good at all,' she shook her head. 'No, seriously girls, where would you like to end up?'  
'Ravenclaw!' Emma called surprisingly loud.  
'I agree!' Rose stated.  
'Two Claws, hey?' Acacia put a finger to her mouth and looked at the ceiling. 'It would be nice to see one of you in Hufflepuff. You know that the best and nicest students belong there, do you?' she said mockingly, trying to defend the Hogwarts House she had been sorted into years ago.  
'Yeah, I'm sure,' Rose waved it away, grinning.  
'But of course, you two shouldn't be parted at all.' Acacia grabbed the two friends and playfully tickled them.  
Belladona came into the room and walked up to the three of them, carrying Mercurio on her left arm.  
'Are you ready to go?' she asked the girls as she put the owl into his cage and perched it on top of the trunk.  
'Yes!' they both yelled.  
Belladona flicked her wand and drifted the trunk along ahead of her sister and herself, while Emma and Rose were already leaving the room. As the girls went through the entrance doors and down the steps, Emma overheard a part of the conversation that was going on between the two adults.  
'Bella, I mean it!'  
'But you.'  
'Really! I had this a few times with Nem before and she knows it. But lately I've been having it with Emma and it seems to be way more powerful.'  
'They are just visions. Everyone will come across a few difficult moments or choices in their lives. You're just able to see them and you know it.'  
'Yes, but Bella. It isn't like that!'  
'Acacia, please. I'm sure it's nothing.' Belladona said more quietly and carefully as they stepped down.  
'Come on, girls,' Belladona urged them to move on to where Emma's parents were still talking to Orlando, Josh now with a giggling Violet on his shoulders and Samuel jumping at his feet to try and tickle the little girls' bare feet. 'Danny! Eli! Come on now!'  
The boys dropped the chords that were attached to the kite, which still was lying on the same spot as when Emma entered the house, and shrugged their shoulders.  
A few minutes later they were loading the trunks into the back of a rather small grey car. Rose's other grandfather, Arthur Weasley, had been looking for a Muggle car at the department in the Ministry of Magic he was working for, the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts, so that they could easily travel to King's Cross Station without getting too much of attention. Josh was driving the car, Belladona was sitting next to him and the back seat had been enlarged to fit in Nemesis, Emma, Rose, Daniel and Elijah. After a few hugs and kisses, the girls got in the car and waved to a straight line of Orlando, Samuel and Acacia, who was carrying Violet, until they disappeared from view as they turned right from the drive way.  
'Off we go!' Josh snickered as he accelerated the car and Belladona got thrown back in her seat. She nudged him and Nemesis softly slapped his head from behind as the youngsters all laughed and giggled.  
'Don't try this at home, kids,' he pretended to look seriously in the rear view mirror and rubbed his ribs.  
*  
After they had all run quickly or walked casually through the barrier to get to Platform 9 and ¾, and at the same time successfully avoided Muggle eyes, the puffing Hogwarts Express gave a loud whistle.  
'Five minutes to go. We're just on time,' Josh said looking at his watch. 'And that without hurrying!' He looked over his shoulder and smiled at Elijah and Daniel, who were strolling a little behind as they walked past the train to find a quite deserted carriage.  
'Wow! Look at the size of that train,' Elijah exclaimed. 'I can't wait to get on it myself.'  
'Yeah, well, you're lucky. I still have to wait about four years,' Daniel said a little sad.  
Emma and Rose were pushing their trolleys and curiously looked at all the new faces they crossed or saw through the windows of the different compartments.  
'Here's a nice spot, girls,' Josh called. Emma and Rose climbed the train and put their trunks and their cages down before descending back onto the platform.  
'Well, I guess that's it,' Rose said awkwardly. She ran to her mother and hugged her.  
'If there's something wrong or you need us, just send us an owl, Emma,' Nemesis said pulling her daughter close to her. 'I'll miss you, honey.' She wiped a tear away when she let go of her.  
'I'm going to be okay, mum,' Emma said smiling as she gave her mother a kiss. 'Don't worry so much!' She hugged her brother and Daniel, gave Belladona a kiss and then turned to her father. He bent down and held her face in his two hands.  
'How am I supposed to keep an eye on your mother and brothers now?' he said winking. 'I love you, Emma. Be good!' he kissed her cheek and hugged her.  
'Remember what I said about Severus. Although he didn't say, I trust he doesn't want anyone to know you know him that well.' Emma nodded.  
'Bye dad!' she said softly.  
She and Rose climbed the stairs of the train again and turned around as the doors closed.  
'Quick! A window,' Rose yelled. They rushed into an empty compartment and standing on the seats they opened a window. Sticking their heads outside, they could still see their family waving at them and hear them shouting.  
'Bye Emma!'  
'Bye Rose!'  
'Hey! Send me some sweets!'  
'Yeah, me too!' the little voice of Daniel was the last thing they could understand before the Hogwarts Express made a big turn.  
Rose went to sit down, pulling Emma down next to her.  
'There's someone else sitting here,' she said pointing at a trunk and a dark blue backpack.  
'Do you think we should find ourselves our own compartment?' Emma asked.  
'No, let's just get our trunks and settle down here.' They both got up and brought back their trunks and cages, which were still standing in the passageway. Both Tiger and Mercurio immediately went to sleep once they were lifted onto the luggage rack.  
'Now what?' Emma asked Rose after a few minutes staring out the window, seeing only trees and grass under a bright sun and a few thin clouds.  
'We should've brought a set of Exploding Snap,' Rose sighed heavily.  
'Or Gobstones' Emma said looking bored.  
'Hey, I know something!' Rose suddenly called. 'Want to hear a song dad learned me when he gave me his medaillon?'  
'Sure!' Emma moved into a comfortable position, sitting cross-legged.  
Rose cleared her voice, held the pendant and began to sing with a voice that almost sounded like an angel. Very fragile and sweet, yet strong and firmly holding Emma's attention.  
  
'Horus, king of Egypt.  
Eyes like a great falcon,  
Razor-sharp, foreseeing.  
Horus, king of Egypt.  
A priest, a god, an icon,  
Beyond the human being.  
  
He is the unheard voice,  
Of the Upper and Lo.'  
  
The compartment door slid open and two boys entered. They were laughing and didn't seem to notice them, as Rose stopped singing, startled by the sudden invasion.  
'Did you see her face?' the second boy that had entered, carrying his trunk, asked panting. He had dark brown short hair and was rather tall. They looked at each other and snorted with laughter as the boy threw his trunk on the luggage rack with all the strength he had.  
Emma looked at the other boy. He was extremely handsome. If it weren't for him obviously being a boy, she could've sworn he was a Veela. His shining blond hair fell in front of his eyes as he and the other one flopped down, still laughing and clutching their stomachs. Emma and Rose looked at each other meaningfully and giggled as they both knew what they were thinking. The boy pushed his hair back and two piercing green eyes stared in their direction.  
'Oh,' the boys both said a little embarrassed for not having noticed them sooner.  
For a few seconds they were all staring at each other until Emma gulped and broke the silence.  
'Er. Hi,' she said smiling broadly. 'I'm Emma and this is Rose.' She extended her hand and they both shook it.  
'Hi, I'm Seth and this is Jered,' the tall boy said, pointing at his friend. 'Mind you, I've known him for years now and his stupidity still amazes me till this day,' he whispered as he now shook Rose's hand.  
Jered poked him rather hard in his ribs and Emma tittered.  
'OUCH!'  
'Well, anyway,' Seth said. 'I suppose you two are first years?'  
'Is it that obvious?' Rose asked worried.  
'No, he just hoped you were,' Jered said glaring at his friend.  
Without paying attention to him, Seth pulled out 'Hogwarts, a History' from Jered's backpack.  
'I've been reading this,' he said pointing at the book. 'You see, my mum's a Muggle and she couldn't tell me a lot about Hogwarts. So, I've read about the different Houses in Jered's book and I do hope to get sorted into Gryffindor.' His hazel brown eyes were glittering as he said the name.  
'The noble one,' Jered sighed mockingly, shaking his head.  
'Shut up, you!'  
'So you're Muggleborn?' Rose asked.  
'No, not exactly. My dad was a wizard.'  
'Oh! Sorry.' Emma and Rose both understood quickly.  
'That's alright,' Seth said quickly. 'It's been a while now since he died. I don't remember him that much. I was about five years old.'  
'And since then, I've been stuck with him!' Jered clenched his teeth.  
'It's the other way around!' Seth hit him with the book and then turned to the girls. 'Anyway, I'm still considering if I want him in the same House with me.' He nodded in Jered's direction, who shrugged his shoulders and gave the girls a very innocent look.  
Emma thought he looked gorgeous that way and she could feel Rose thought the same by the way she was nervously moving around a little.  
'So Seth. Are you aware of the origin of your name?' Rose asked trying to focus again.  
'Yeah! It's the Egyptian god of the death, with the head of a snake. My dad gave me that name.'  
Rose smiled broadly.  
'I used to live in Egypt,' Seth continued. 'My dad worked there on his own. We lived in the city he always called Heliopolis. I know there's another modern name for it now, but I can't remember what it is. Actually I don't remember anything except for that.' Jered patted him on the shoulder.  
'Heliopolis?' Rose mused. 'In the Egyptian mythology, that's believed to be the most holy and earliest city to have surfaced from the great sea long before recorded history, isn't it?'  
'How do you know all that?'  
'My dad used to work in Egypt as a curse-breaker for Gringotts. As a matter of fact, he's in Giza right now.' Rose sounded a little bit disappointed again.  
A plump witch appeared in the transparent compartment door, pushing a food trolley ahead of her and peeking inside. Rose saw all the sweets and cakes and jumped up, reaching for her little black pouch.  
'Allow me, Rose,' Jered put his hand on her pouch and softly pushed it away. He opened the door and ordered a little bit of everything. Rose got back to her seat and gave Emma an amazed look.  
'And he's charming too!' she whispered in her ear as Jered clumsily threw the lot on the small desk near the window, shaking the hair out of his face and flopping down again.  
'Well.' Emma whispered back and grinned. 'Not that charming.'  
Seth browsed through the sweets and got out a Liquorice Wand for Jered and him. He immediately bit on his and chewed fiercely.  
'Oh boy! I was really yearning for one of those,' he told Jered with a full mouth. He looked at the girls like he had forget about them already and then said grinning, 'Help yourself!'  
'Yes, please do so,' Jered encouraged them. 'Especially since I've paid for the lot with his money.'  
'WHAT!?' Seth looked appalled and watched his friend disbelievingly, but when Jered winked at him, he carried on chewing quite audibly and pushed the sweets to Emma, while he nodded. 'Go on!'  
Emma hesitantly took two Cauldron Cakes and gave one to Rose, who was making funny faces.  
'Yeah! Now see, he's the real Prince Charming,' Jered suddenly said, noticing something and indicating he had overheard their whispers just a minute ago. At first Emma blushed but then the three of them snorted and Seth, who was looking outside the window, turned his head.  
'What?' he asked ignorant.  
'Nothing,' they said in unison and grinning.  
All of a sudden the compartment door slid open. Seth looked up and stopped smacking his lips.  
'Oh, no.' he moaned.  
A very small girl with light brown hair up to her chin had entered and peered around the place with a sneering smile on her face. A much taller girl was standing next to her showing them all a very vindictive expression. Jered sighed.  
'You think it's funny, do you?' the small girl said to Seth with a very high pitched yet darling childish voice.  
'Cassandra, please shut up!' Jered said rolling his eyes.  
'Sulla's really upset,' she barked.  
'Yeah!' The vindictive looking girl now gave them an indication of her stupidity by her ignorant support.  
'But I honestly don't like her,' Seth tried.  
Cassandra looked at Emma and Rose disapprovingly.  
'But you do like these,' she pointed at them.  
'Hey!' Jered prompted. 'Leave them alone!'  
'Fine! Just wait until I tell father about you double-crossing me the whole time,' she swiftly turned around and marched away.  
'He isn't my father!' Seth yelled after her.  
'Then wait till I tell Valmont!' Seth gulped as he heard the shrilling voice.  
The other girl was still standing in their compartment and grinned through her long dark hair that almost covered her whole face.  
'Cordelia! Come on!' they heard Cassandra yelling in the corridor. The girl turned around and slammed the door shut.  
'What was that all about?' Rose asked softly.  
'Just a real nuisance who happens to be my stepsister and practically ruins my whole life!' Seth said angry and he buried himself into his sweets.  
Emma watched him apprehensively and felt bad for him.  
'His mother remarried her father a few years ago,' Jered explained. 'And Cassandra is used to having it all her way.'  
'But they don't have to expect I'll take his name... Ever!' a voice between the sweets came.  
'Who's Valmont?' Emma asked recalling the almost anxious look on Seth's face when Cassandra threatened to tell him.  
'He's her brother. A third year.'  
'And a really big bully!' Seth added eating a Chocolate Frog.  
*  
The boys had talked about Cassandra and Valmont for a while and Emma immediately understood they were real pests for Seth and his younger sister. But his mother seemed to genuinely love their dad, so they were really forced to live with each other. The more they discussed it, the more miserable Seth looked, so Jered pulled out two sets of Gobstones and they all decided to play each other at least once.  
Cassandra had been wandering in the corridor a few times, menacingly looking inside their compartment each time she and Cordelia passed by. They pretended they didn't see her the last couple of times and she finally stalked off.  
'Probably bullying some other people,' Seth said now laughing. 'As long as it's not me.'  
The sky had already turned dark when an older boy knocked on their door and carefully entered.  
'First years?' he asked kindly.  
They nodded and looked puzzled at the golden badge on his robes, saying 'Head-hunter'. Jered scratched his head and Seth looked rather curiously.  
'It shouldn't take so long before we arrive at Hogsmeade Station,' he said. 'You'd better. Is there something wrong?' He saw them looking strangely at his badge.  
'Do you really hunt for heads?' Seth asked pretending to be scared as the boy now looked at his robes.  
'Argh! Well, that explains why everyone is giving me these weird looks! That Ulysses boy!' He shook his head and pointed his own wand at the badge while muttering something. 'There, that's better!' he said flattening his robes.  
Emma could read 'Head Boy' now and giggled a little.  
'Be sure to watch your back at school,' he grinned at her. ' You can't be careful enough with all those pranksters around. Anyway, you'd better change into your school robes.' He smiled and left the compartment on his way to find other unaccustomed first years.  
The train slowed down twenty minutes later and they had just all changed after finishing their games of Gobstone. The Head Boy passed by their door again.  
'Follow me, please. Leave your trunks and other luggage here. The house- elves will bring them up later.'  
They jumped up and followed him outside the train, where a large group of black dressed youngsters were already waiting.  
'First years! First years! Gather around, please!' A tall, fairly muscled man with a deep voice and a weak oil-lantern was flagging the first years towards him. Emma closely followed Rose, who was a master at going through a dense crowd in a very swift and lithe manner. They had already lost Jered and Seth when they were halfway through.  
'Never mind,' Rose said excitedly, pulling Emma by the sleeves of her cloak. 'We'll see them at the Sorting.'  
When they were in the middle of the large circle of first years, with the man right in the centre, Emma saw he was quite a young man with a handsome face, square manly jaw and short hair.  
'I am the Keeper of the Keys and as tradition prescribes, we will bring all first years up to Hogwarts across the lake in boats,' the man said leading the way down a narrow path.  
There was a sudden bustle and several utterances of awe and amazement as the group first saw the large and stunning castle. Seconds later Emma and Rose climbed into a boat and were startled as two people jumped in next to them.  
'We lost you there,' Seth panted as he sat down next to Emma. 'And we almost ran into Cassandra and her nice friends.'  
'Did you take a good look at that castle?' Jered asked the girls. 'It's absolutely overwhelming. I can't wait to settle in!'  
'Me neither!' Emma called.  
Rose nervously turned around to look at the others. 'We still have to go through the Sorting Ceremony first, you know.'  
They silently stared at the castle and the surface of the lake for a while, when suddenly something hit the bottom of their boat, which made it roll to the left and right.  
'What the heck was that?' Seth exclaimed looking terrified and grabbing the edges of the boat. Emma gasped and took Rose's hand to pinch it.  
What seemed like a large monster appeared on the surface a few feet away from their boat. Someone nearby screamed, others laughed.  
'That's only the Giant Squid,' Jered tried to explain. 'Dad told me about it. It lives in the lake and. well, it's gigantic.'  
'I didn't know they had their own Nessy!' Seth said bewildered. Emma and Rose both relaxed as they entered a dark tunnel. They arrived in an underground paddock a couple of minutes later and went through a passageway, only to reappear on the ground surface again and to see the castle in its full glory, waiting to welcome them for the next seven years.  
The Keeper marched up to the front oak doors and then turned around as everyone once again gathered around.  
'Prepare to enter Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!'  
At the sound of these words, the huge heavy doors creaked open and an inviting, comfortable lukewarm breeze brushed Emma's rosy cheeks. 


End file.
